Books & Periodicals

A Forum Auctions (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) sale of May 30 ran to well over 540 lots in all, but it was very early in proceedings that a much, much higher than predicted bid of £26,000 was made on an 1853, presentation first of 'Palm Trees of the Amazon and their uses.

Early printed books, among them a Bible of 1476, were a notable feature of a recent West Sussex sale.

Sporting a torn and defective but rarely seen dust jacket, a 1911, first American printing of Gaston Leroux’s 'The Phantom of the Opera' sold for $10,000 (£7750) in a recent New York sale.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from June 11-21, 2019.

Tender letters from artist Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones to the daughter of his patron reveal the “emotional support” he craved.

Ben Kinmont specialises in antiquarian books on gastronomy in California and is among the exhibitors at 'Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair'.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Pamphlet in later royal binding offers thanksgiving for James I’s survival of Gunpowder Plot.

Part of the flying section of the most recent of the Military, Aviation & Transport History sales that are a regular feature of the calendar at Dominic Winter offered a collection of ephemera related to the earlier years of European civil aviation.

A book billed as the work that marked the birth of modern business will be the subject of a single-lot auction at Christie’s New York on June 12.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from June 3-15, 2019.

Spotlight on some of the items coming up at the four book fairs all running in the same week.

Over in Kensington Gore’s Royal Geographical Society, The London Map Fair includes an astronomical highlight to mark the 50th anniversary of the first moonwalk. The map, signed and inscribed by Buzz Aldrin, shows the lunar landing site, and is offered by The Map House for £7500.

At the PBFA London Antiquarian Book Fair, from June 6-7 at Ibis London in Earls Court, Rainford & Parris brings a collection of seven children’s books by Penelope Lively.

Deborah Coltham specialises in rare books, manuscripts and ephemera relating to science and medicine. She is an exhibitor at 'Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair' (June 7-9).

Successfully bid to £80,000 among cartographic lots offered in London was a fine coloured copy of Ortelius’ Theatrum… of 1592.

Playing cards from two recent provincial sales are featured here – five examples from a 250-lot, single-owner collection offered in Gloucestershire, and a single pack from a Worcestershire sale.